Have you ever seen a film and wondered if maybe the producers picked names at random for the various parts? This is how I felt when I watched "Walk on the Wild Side"...a strangely cast film if I've ever seen one! First, British actor Laurence Harvey plays an American. Second, American actress Anne Baxter plays a Mexican-American! And, the French actress Capucine plays Harvey's love interest who lives in New Orleans. All very odd choices to say the least...and I don't know why they didn't just hire folks more suited for the parts. Clearly this is a case where the casting choices were inexplicable!
As for the story, Harvey plays Dove Linkhorn (wow...what an odd name)...a man who has been hitchhiking and riding the rails to get to New Orleans to find his lady love, Hallie (Capucine). He doesn't find her until well in to the movie...after which he's made the acquaintance of a couple other ladies. Kitty (Jane Fonda) overacts horribly here...and she later became a marvelous actress but certainly NOT in "Walk on the Wild Side"! Teresina (Baxter) is better....though her strange Mexican accent is out of place. Regardless, the two fall for him...but he's loyal to Hallie. Sadly, however, Hallie turns out to be a high-priced call girl and she evidently stopped waiting for Dove. What's next? See the film if you'd like.
The most interesting thing about the film is Barbara Stanwyck, who plays a woman who appears to be a lesbian (though she is married to a man). This was something pretty shocking back in 1962 and was apparently the first time an more overtly lesbian character was in an American mainstream movie--but it still isn't 100% explicitly stated. The rest of the movie has its moments and the plot is interesting. But the lack of subtlety, miscast characters and the general depressing nature of the plot make it a hard sell and take away from the story. In fact, I'd love to see a re-make of this picture, as the general plot is pretty unusual...but the execution, well, it's less than stellar.
As for the story, Harvey plays Dove Linkhorn (wow...what an odd name)...a man who has been hitchhiking and riding the rails to get to New Orleans to find his lady love, Hallie (Capucine). He doesn't find her until well in to the movie...after which he's made the acquaintance of a couple other ladies. Kitty (Jane Fonda) overacts horribly here...and she later became a marvelous actress but certainly NOT in "Walk on the Wild Side"! Teresina (Baxter) is better....though her strange Mexican accent is out of place. Regardless, the two fall for him...but he's loyal to Hallie. Sadly, however, Hallie turns out to be a high-priced call girl and she evidently stopped waiting for Dove. What's next? See the film if you'd like.
The most interesting thing about the film is Barbara Stanwyck, who plays a woman who appears to be a lesbian (though she is married to a man). This was something pretty shocking back in 1962 and was apparently the first time an more overtly lesbian character was in an American mainstream movie--but it still isn't 100% explicitly stated. The rest of the movie has its moments and the plot is interesting. But the lack of subtlety, miscast characters and the general depressing nature of the plot make it a hard sell and take away from the story. In fact, I'd love to see a re-make of this picture, as the general plot is pretty unusual...but the execution, well, it's less than stellar.